"Kyrie Irving stood patiently dribbling the basketball as the seconds ticked down, the Celtics' crowd chanted "De-fense" and the moment grew ripe with opportunity.

The 19-year-old rookie had been in a similar spot a month earlier in Indiana, the ball in his hands, a victory within reach, only to see his left-handed layup rim out. But the bad memory never entered his mind, Irving said, as he waited for a high screen from teammate Anderson Varejao and an open look at the basket.

Beneath the Celtics' 17 championship banners and in front of his father, Drederick, who sat at courtside, Irving drove the lane, spun between two defenders and grabbed a piece of Cavaliers lore. His spectacular left-handed layup with 2.6 seconds remaining capped an improbable comeback and delivered an 88-87 win before a stunned sellout crowd of 18,624 fans. "